


Fire on Fire

by notsomagicath



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cheesy Book References, Ellen Claremont's PowerPoints, Emergency Medical Technicians, Emergency room, Firefighter Alex Claremont-Diaz, Firefighters, First Kiss, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Henry Goes On A Rant, Injury Recovery, Language, Love Confessions, M/M, Major Character Injury, Medical Trauma, Not Canon Compliant, Oblivious Alex Claremont-Diaz, Paramedic Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Pining, Probable Medical/Firefighting Inaccuracies, Supportive Ellen Claremont, Supportive June Claremont-Diaz, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:21:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29281386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsomagicath/pseuds/notsomagicath
Summary: In which getting injured is kind of in the job description for a firefighter, but the fifth ambulance ride with Alex is the last straw for Henry.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor, Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor & Percy "Pez" Okonjo
Comments: 7
Kudos: 143





	Fire on Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song Fire on Fire by Sam Smith!

“ _House fire at the corner of Austen Street and McQuiston Road,_ ” the dispatcher relays through the radio. “ _Repeat, house fire at Austen and McQuiston.”_ _  
_ “This is Unit 514,” Alex responds, gesturing for Nora to make a left at the next intersection. “ETA two minutes.” 

They pull into McQuiston Road, and the air is already heavy with smoke. 

“Holleran, clear the crowd,” Chief Luna calls. “Claremont-Diaz, you and Cash head into the house, there’s a family of four living here, and we’ve only got a head count on the parents. The kids are Lizzie, age 9, and Aaron, age 7.” 

“Yes sir,” Alex and Cash tug on their gear and pull axes from the fire engine, sprinting for the house as the rest of the team starts unraveling the hose. 

“LIZZIE.” 

“AARON.” 

Alex and Cash split up, Alex at the back door and Cash at the front. 

“LIZZIE. AARON. MY NAME IS ALEX, I’M HERE TO HELP YOU. CAN YOU HEAR ME?” 

The sounds of oxygen pumping through his mask is just the right kind of constant to keep him calm. Room to room, window to window, wall to wall, floor to ceiling. 

“KIDS. KIDS. I’M HERE. CALL OUT IF YOU CAN HEAR ME.” 

Alex works his way closer to the fire, and his heart breaks with every room he clears. 

_ They’re not here. Fuck, where are you? Please be alive. Please be alive. Please be alive. I haven’t lost a single damn kid in a fire just yet, there’s no way in hell I’m starting now. Come on, Alex, get it together.  _

“HELP, PLEASE. WE’RE IN HERE,” the screams of a little girl are barely audible over the roar of the fire. “PLEASE. MY BROTHER. HE WON’T WAKE UP.”

_ Thanks, universe. I owe you one. _

“CASH, GET UP HERE. SECOND FLOOR, THIRD QUADRANT. CHIEF, I NEED

A LADDER UP HERE NOW.” 

“ON MY WAY.” 

“Roger that.” From Chief Luna’s comm, Alex can hear him barking orders to get the 

ladder up and running. 

Sure enough, Lizzie and Aaron are curled up behind a toy box in what Alex assumes is Aaron’s room. 

“Hey,” he works his way towards them. “My name is Alex. My friend Cash is about to come get you, Lizzie. I’ll do my best to make sure Aaron is alright.” 

“No,” Lizzie sobs, coughing violently. “You get my little brother out first. I’m okay.” 

“Lizzie, you’ve breathed in too much smoke, I can help-”

“NO. GET HIM OUT.” 

“What’re we looking at, Diaz,” Cash appears by his side. 

“Lizzie’s conscious, but she’s taken on a lot of smoke. Aaron’s unconscious.” Alex glances at Lizzie, and she’s full out sobbing now, clumsily trying to shove her brother into Cash’s arms. “Take Aaron, I got Lizzie.” 

“Got it.” In mere moments, Aaron and Cash are out the window and onto the ladder. “I need medical,  _ now. _ ” 

“Okay Lizzie, Aaron is safe, I’m going to get you out of here.” 

“Is he going to be okay?”

“We’re going to try our best-”

“That’s not good enough. I want him better. Promise me.” 

“ _ Diaz. Get out of there, now. The structure is no longer stable. I repeat, get out of there, NOW.”  _

“Roger that, Chief.” Alex flinches when Lizzie screams hoarsely as a flaming board falls a mere four feet from them. “Lizzie, just let me get you out of here, and I’ll promise you whatever you want.” 

“You pinky swear-” Suddenly, Lizzie collapses and the floor shudders underneath them. The next thing he knows, Alex is curled around Lizzie as they drop ten feet straight into a pile of rubble. 

“ _ DIAZ. DIAZ.” _

“Hey, Lizzie, you’re going to be alright, okay? I promise. You hear me? I promise,” he chokes.

His comms are going crazy, but everything’s getting so quiet over the buzzing in his ears. 

_ Oxygen low. Oxygen low,  _ beeps his oxygen monitor.

_ I promised her. I promised her. I promised her.  _

_ I’m so sorry, Lizzie. _

\----------

Sirens are blaring in the background, but Alex can barely hear them. 

_ Huh, I’m alive.  _

“Damn right you are,” a familiar voice hisses from a few feet away.  _ Did I say that out loud? Is that a British accent? Why am I lying down? Am I moving up and down?  _ “You’re such a fucking idiot, you know that?”

_ Ah, guess he’s in Henry’s ambulance.  _

“Lizzie, is she alright?” 

“Yeah, she’s right in front of us. You saved her life, you reckless, self-sacrificing moron.”

“Hey sweetheart, nice to see you too,” Alex’s words bleed into each other, but judging by the exasperated look on his face, Henry got the idea. 

“Can you drive any faster, Pez?” Henry calls to the driver. “I think he’s delirious from blood loss.” 

“Listen, we’ve already got ambulance right-of-way and shit, I feel like we’d be a danger to society if we went any faster.” 

Henry huffs and rips open Alex’s shirt, covering his chest in cool compresses. 

“If you wanted me naked, you should’ve just asked,” Alex grins. 

“You git, you’re in shock.” 

“In shock at your beautiful eyessss.” 

He doesn’t get a response from that one, and instead tries to relax. 

“Nope, fuck off, you’re not closing your eyes. You’re not dying in my damn ambulance.” 

“I’m just tired, baby, I feel fine.” 

“You fell ten feet. You’re at the very least at risk for a concussion, without even considering how you tell ten feet into a fucking  _ fire.  _ Now shut the fuck up and keep your eyes open.” 

“Yes, your highness.” 

Henry frowns.

“I don’t even know why I even bother saving your arse anymore. You’d think four times was enough.” 

“Fifth time’s the charm. You like my arse, and you know it.” 

“You know what? I’m just gonna concentrate on the fact that you’re alive and talking and remind myself that killing you right now is against the hippocratic oath.” 

“The hippopotamus oath?”

“I hate you so much, and I’m definitely never letting you live this down.” 

“I’d expect nothing less.” 

He barely processes Henry’s shout as the world around him tips and he blacks out. 

\----------

“Okay, what’ve we got?” Dr. Srivastava rushes up towards them as Henry and Pez roll in Alex’s stretcher. 

There’s an awkward pause when Henry’s supposed to start the report, but Pez fills his place quickly. 

“Alex Claremont-Diaz, male, 25 years old. Inhaled a lot of smoke. Pulse is slowing, blood pressure is dropping as well. Significant blood loss from a large puncture wound from a wooden board to the right side of the abdomen, second and third degree burns to the chest and left leg. Possible concussion risk as well. Lost consciousness en route.”

“Thanks Windsor, thanks Okonjo, we’ll take it from here.” 

“Shaan-” Alex hears Henry’s voice as they cart him towards a trauma bay. “Take care of him, okay?”

He flails to look at him, and barely catches the bleak look on Henry’s face before he is overwhelmed by nurses. 

\----------

_ God, the sound of a heart monitor is so fucking annoying.  _

_ Huh. _

_ Guess one of the perks of being alive is being annoyed by things.  _

Alex’s eyes flutter open, and it takes a solid fifteen seconds for his eyes to adjust to the fluorescent lights of the emergency room. It takes another thirty to register the pressure on both his hands. 

“Hey mom, hey June. Is Lizzie okay?” 

Ellen Claremont gasps and then quickly slaps a hand over her mouth before tears start running down her face. June quickly follows, squeezing her brother’s hand a little too hard, but hey, that’s the thing about being alive. You get to notice things like that. 

“We were so worried,” Ellen begins. “And yes, Lizzie is going to make it. Because of you.” 

“I had to stop mom from drawing up a powerpoint on the risk-benefit analysis of running into a burning building,” June interrupts, puffy-eyed and grinning. 

“Oh shit, I concerned her to the point of powerpoint mom?” 

“Yeah, it was pretty bad.” 

“Hey,” Ellen protests. 

“Mom’s got a point,” Alex smiles. “It doesn’t take a big event to get a powerpoint going.” 

All three of them burst out laughing until Alex groans and clutches his side. 

“Probably shouldn’t be laughing just yet. Ya know, after being impaled by rubble and all.” 

Both womens’ smiles waver for a moment, but return to their normal state in a millisecond.

“Hey, at least he’s well enough to make jokes,” June laughs. 

“That’s true,” Ellen agrees. “By the way, your father is on his way, his flight lands in about two hours.”

“And Nora’s coming by with the world’s most obnoxious red white and blue flower bouquet she can find once she gets off work,” June adds. “Speaking of visitors, though…” She gestures towards an extra chair across the room, specifically at the blond who’s draped awkwardly across the armrests in what is probably the least comfortable sleeping position of all time, still in his paramedic uniform. 

“Henry’s here?”

“He’s been waiting here ever since his shift ended, and he wouldn’t leave or sleep until we got here. Mom talked him into getting food, but she couldn’t convince him to at least grab a change of clothes from home.” 

“Why would he stay? I’m pretty sure he hates me or something. At the very least, I annoy him.” 

Right on cue, Henry shifts in his seat and frowns as if anticipating the horrible neck pain that’s soon to follow his nap. 

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Alex may be a little oblivious and drugged to hell, but he’s not quite blind enough to miss his mom and sister trading glances. 

“Okay, what is it? Why are you looking at each other like that?” 

“Wow, look at the time, I think it’s time to go!” Ellen laughs, tugging June out the door. “Expect a powerpoint later, dear!” 

_ Wow, there must have been way more morphine in his system than he thought, cause he understood absolutely none of that.  _

“You’re awake.” 

Henry’s voice snaps him out of the confused drug-addled thought spiral. He’s quiet for a moment, jaw tensing as he glances back and forth between the heart monitor and Alex’s face. Then, he takes a deep breath in, and Alex anticipates something vaguely threatening as always, but he nearly disconnects his IV when Henry starts yelling. 

“ALEX CLAREMONT-DIAZ YOU ABSOLUTE GIT, YOU WANKER, YOU ARSEHOLE, YOU UNBELIEVABLY STUPID SELF-PRESERVATIONLESS LITTLE SHIT-”

_ Ah fuck, it’s worse than he thought.  _

\----------

“-AND THAT’S WHY, THE NEXT TIME YOU DO SOMETHING TO GET YOURSELF NEARLY KILLED, I’M NOT FUCKING SAVING YOU, BECAUSE IF I KEEP DOING THAT, I’LL HAVE A STROKE AND A HEART ATTACK BEFORE I TURN THIRTY, AND I’LL BE SO GREY-HAIRED THAT WHOEVER FINDS ME IS GOING TO ASSUME THAT I DIED OF OLD AGE.” 

Henry stops, gasping for breath from his rant, and glaring at Alex so hard that if he wasn’t already in a hospital bed, he’d assume he’d need one in a second. 

Alex has always loved bad decisions, and if Henry’s about to break the whatever-it’s-called oath, then he might as well die as he’d lived. Being a little shit. 

“You done?” 

If Henry had been red faced from lack of air, he could have passed for a cherry popsicle by now. 

“Am I DONE??? You fell ten feet, got impaled by a fucking burning piece of wood, partially set on fire by the flaming house that you just HAPPENED to run into like an idiot, and nearly suffocated by breathing in enough smoke to kill a small child, and only survived because Pez and I essentially won a tug-of-war with the Grim Reaper, and the first thing you say to me is ‘You done?’????????????? I should’ve fucking let you die. I shouldn’t have given a damn when you fucking flatlined on the operating table.” 

“Wait, Henry, what?”

Henry pales, and staggers towards the chair next to the bed. 

“You didn’t know?” he says softly, almost at a whisper. “You stopped breathing while they were removing the board. You  _ died _ , Alex. You died and I didn’t even find out until it was all over and you were safe and I fucking collapsed in the middle of the goddamn waiting room in front of about fifty people and cried my fucking eyes out.”

“But why- What? Okay, I get it’s your job and everything, but why the fuck would you give a damn? It’s not your job to make sure every one of your patients is okay. I’m just a mess that you are legally obligated to take care of and come rescue every time I do something stupid. Please explain this to me. Why, Henry? Because last I checked, one of the last things you said to me before I blacked out in the ambulance was that you hated me.” 

“BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, YOU IDIOT.” Henry flinches at the volume of his own voice, rising out of his chair so quickly that it screeches where it scrapes the floor. 

“You- What?”

“I need to go,” Henry scrambles for the door, and without even thinking, Alex sits up and reaches for him, wincing at the pain in his side and the tug of the IV needle in his elbow. As soon as he makes a sound, Henry is back at his bedside again, fussing over the displaced needle and double checking the stitches. “I can’t leave you alone for a second, can I?”

“I guess not,” Alex smiles, hissing slightly when Henry helps lower him back onto the mattress. “Now, if you please, would you elaborate on the statement from a minute ago?”

“I’d rather not,” Henry replies, flushed red all the way down his neck and up his ears. “In fact, I’d rather talk about anything else.” 

“But what if I’d like to talk about it?” 

Henry freezes, as if out of all the responses he could’ve imagined, this wasn’t one of them. 

“Or, I mean,” Alex continues, “we could just… not talk about it.” 

Henry’s expression wavers for a moment before realizing that Alex is tilting his face up to his. 

“You mean-” 

He doesn’t even get a full sentence out before Alex cuts him off with a kiss. 

“Oh, I get it now.”

“That’s what I thought.” 

A few moments later, Alex winces, and Henry’s hand flies to the bandages on his side. 

“As lovely as this is, I think we should take a minute so that you don’t rip any stitches.” 

“Always here with common sense, huh Windsor? I do love that about you. Though in this case… I do disagree.” 

“You know what?” Henry leans over and presses his lips to Alex’s jaw, cheek, and forehead. “If you’re going to continue ignoring your well-being, then maybe I should just leave, and meet you at the hospital doors when you’re healed.” 

“Nice try,” Alex grins, tangling their fingers together. “You’re staying right here.” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hi y'all! Thank you so much for reading! If you like, come say hi to me on Tumblr @notsomagicath! ~ Cath :)


End file.
